A New Direction
by Sparkle Girl
Summary: Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** A New Direction

**Pairing/Characters:** Puck/Rachel with Rachel/Kurt (friendship), Rachel/Finn and Kurt/Blaine

**Rating/Warnings:** Probably T for language.

**Summary:** Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck.

**Spoilers:** Anything up to Special Education can be considered fair game.

**Disclaimer: **_Glee_ does not belong to me

Rachel was sat in the auditorium. School had been out for a while and she was enjoying the silence. In the silence of the huge room, her thoughts kept going over and over the argument she'd had with Finn and the other members of the glee club in the green room at sectionals. Was it true? Did they all just pretend to like her so she'd continue to sing with them? Rachel sighed, admitting to herself that it was undoubtedly true and if she was being completely honest with herself, its not like that piece of information was a huge surprise. She had grown used to being an outcast, but she had began to feel as if she really belonged with the glee club and now everything had been shaken up, again. The rebukes from both her team mates and her teacher had really shaken her confidence and had been a humiliating slap in the face.

Rachel's thoughts, and her silence was disrupted when the door opened and she scowled when Mr Schuester walked in, of all the people in the school he had been one of the last she would have wanted to speak to. He seemed genuinely surprised to see her there and before she could change her mind she walked up to him. "Mr Schuester can I have a moment please?" He nodded, and as she stepped closer to him, he squeezed her shoulder and smiled his familiar crooked smile, and Rachel was actually surprised to see he looked pleased to see her. "Sure, is everything okay Rachel?" He looked concerned and Rachel abruptly felt her eyes fill with tears and she blinked furiously. It was ridiculous that just a small show of support or concern could effect her so much, and it wasn't until it happened she realised how much she had needed that. The only other person recently to actually act like she meant anything and like her opinion was important had been Noah. She took a deep breath. "I'd like to talk to you about what occurred over the past few days. I realise you were under a lot of stress with sectionals and finding the final member so we could qualify. Having said that, while I realise my behaviour was inappropriate and over the top, your reaction and the way you spoke to me was equally so. There was no need to speak to me in such a harsh tone, and to be honest I resent being singled out for rebuke, as I was not the only member of the glee club acting out." Mr Schuester sighed and looked down, then back up and met her eyes and nodded.

"You are completely right, Rachel. I was inappropriate and I apologise. I shouldn't have singled you out." Rachel nodded feeling strangely vindicated. Mr Schuester shook his head. "Having said that, Rachel, you need to understand that you aren't going to get every solo in every competition, and you need to support your fellow glee club members."

Rachel felt her face flush with temper and indignation. "I do support everyone else! I believe that Santana, Brittany and Mike secured our victory at sectionals with their amazing performance, and I said so at the time." She took a deep breath and tried to remain calm to list her complaints and get her point across, both of which were of critical importance to her right now. "However, I do have some questions. Why am I consistently the only to be rebuked for my behaviour? When I get a solo, and everyone else complains about them not getting it, how come they don't get reprimanded?" As she was speaking Rachel could feel the tears she had been holding in escape and slowly roll down her face, where she brushed at them angrily. "I realise people see me as a diva, and say I'm stuck up. I just wish they could see things from my point of view. From day one in this school, I've been mocked, had slushies thrown in my face, been called derogatory names and had insulting pornographic pictures drawn about me in the girls bathroom. Then I joined the Glee club, and when I'd finally started to believe I had somewhere I finally belonged, suddenly I'm constantly being called insulting names and having people say they hate me, or that they only pretend to be my friend so I won't quit. So now."

Rachel stopped, and cleared her throat, trying fruitlessly to stem the flow of tears. "I ask you where is my support? Where is all the huge speeches about supporting each other? Or does that only matter when it is aimed at me?" She took a few seconds to wipe her eyes, and then raised her head and looked her teacher in the eye. "To be honest Mr Schuester over the past week, I have given serious thought to following Kurt's lead and finding an alternate place to go to school. To find another school where I could relax and where I would finally fit in, because it is becoming more and more obvious I don't fit in here." Rachel stopped talking, as her tears made it impossible to talk. She glanced over and even through her tears she could see the look of shock on Mr Schuesters face. Without waiting for him to respond Rachel picked up her bag, turned and walked off, up the stairs and out of the auditorium. Due to her still blinded by her tears, she had completely missed the fact that there had been a witness to the entire conversation, sat in the chairs at the back of the auditorium.

As she stepped outside the school, she shrugged into her coat, and putting her bag on her back set out across the parking lot toward where she got the bus. She had gone into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water but knew that she hadn't disguised the fact she had been crying. She was glad her dads were working late tonight, as she didn't want to discuss everything that had just happened. Rachel sighed, all she really wanted to do was to go home and forget all about it. She jolted when she heard her name being shouted. "Rachel," She turned around when her name was called, and saw Kurt Hummel coming across the parking lot toward her. She turned and walked back across the parking lot towards him. "Kurt? What are you doing here?" Kurt tilted his head, and gave her one of his patented long suffering looks. "Looking for you, obviously. I spoke to Finn, and he told me some of what had happened, so as soon as I could I decided to find you. I went by your house, and the park, and I knew that since you weren't at either place, the most likely place for you to be would be the auditorium and I was right."

As she walked up to him he put his arms around her and gave her a hard hug. "I'm sorry but I overheard that entire conversation with Mr Schue. Why didn't you tell me it had gotten so bad?" Rachel looked at him incredulously.

"When? All the times you and Mercedes called me names and mocked me behind my back? All the times you complained to Mr Schuester about the fact I had gotten a solo, in front of me? Tell me, Kurt, when was I supposed to let you know it was upsetting me? You left because you were being bullied and yet you never realised that you were doing the same to me. Now suddenly because you've left McKinley and you and Finn are step-brothers, we're going to become instant best friends? I don't think so." She turned to walk off and Kurt caught her arm. "Rachel wait, l'm really sorry. I was terrible to you, and despite what you might think, I had realised it, I just couldn't find a way to broach the subject with you. If you want we can go somewhere and talk about it. I'd like to clear the air and start again." Rachel looked at Kurt and saw the sincerity on his face and she smiled. He grinned in relief and let go of her arm. "Come on, I'll give you a ride home, I know Finn normally drives you home, so I'll act as chauffeur and we'll go get some ice cream."

They had just began to walk across the parking lot away from the school toward Kurt's car, when Rachel heard someone coming up quickly behind them. Next to her, she felt Kurt stiffen and together they turned to look and Rachel was surprised to Noah jogging up behind them. He stopped just in front of them and looked at Kurt. "Dude, are you suicidal? Football might have finished a couple hours ago, but Karofsky is still around here somewhere. I don't trust that asshole as far as I can throw him, and I really don't want to get sent back to juvie for kicking his ass, so do me a favour and get the fuck out here, yeah?" Before Kurt could say anything he smiled and stepped forward and punched the smaller boy gently on the shoulder. "Seriously though, it's nice to see you out of that monkey suit though. You guys were great at sectionals." His voice trailed off as he looked across at Rachel and Kurt felt his jaw drop when the other boy dropped his bag and stepped up and into Rachel's personal space. "Rachel, what's wrong?" He asked in concern. "You've been crying. That's not like you."

As Kurt watched in fascination Noah lifted her chin so he could see her face clearly. He frowned. "Did Finn do something because I swear to god, bro or no bro, I will kick every inch of his stupid ass." Rachel shook her head. "No, it wasn't Finn. Its just.." Her voice trailed off and her shoulders slumped and Kurt felt himself get worried. This wasn't the confident bright diva he remembered. Kurt went to step forward when Rachel sniffled and looked like she was about to start crying again, but again he was surprised when Noah pulled her closer and gently gave her a hug. Kurt looked at him speculatively. "Puck, how would you like to come and get some ice cream?" Puck looked at him for a few seconds then nodded. "Beats the hell out of fighting my brat of a sister for the remote." Kurt pointed at his ride and Noah nodded walking along casually beside Kurt and Rachel. They were quiet but for once the silence didn't feel strained or uncomfortable. Looking at the boys on either side of her Rachel bit back a smile, who would have thought that when the week started that she'd be contemplating a friendship with both Noah and Kurt. The past was by no means forgotten, but she'd wait and see how things turned out.

_A/N: I have no idea where this came from, except after watching the episode, I thought that Rachel really needed a friend. This should be a multi-chap fic, but as my muse is rather reluctant at the minute, we'll see how it goes._

_Oh, and I'm also working on Part 2 of The Panties Conundrum._

_Thanks for reading._

Sparkle Girl.


	2. Chapter 2  Decisions, Decisions

**Title:** A New Direction

**Pairing/Characters:** Puck/Rachel with Rachel/Kurt (friendship), Rachel/Finn and Kurt/Blaine (in later chapters)

**Rating/Warnings:** Probably T for language, may go up in future chapters.

**Summary:** Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck.

**Spoilers:** Anything up to Special Education can be considered fair game.

**Disclaimer: **Glee does not belong to me.

**Authors Note:** First, I have to say a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed or put me on any of the alerts, you guys rock! You have no idea what a boost it was to get up this morning and see all of them sat in my email. It gave me such a boost that boom, chapter two was written in under two hours this afternoon! I hope you enjoy.

**Chapter Two: Decisions, Decisions**.

Puck was sat in the back of Kurt's navigator listening to Kurt and Rachel talking about everything and nothing. He was still in shock over the fact that he actually agreed to this. Him, Noah Puckerman. Willingly hanging out with two of the people a year ago he would have thrown himself out of a window to avoid. Recently though he had discovered that the people that he had spent the better part of a couple of years tormenting were a hell of a lot nicer and a hell of a lot cooler than the so-called _popular_ kids. He sat forward. "So are we just driving around for the hell of it, or do we actually have an idea of where we're going?" Kurt looked in the rear view mirror and he smiled. "I was thinking a dairy queen run?" Puck nodded and then looked at Rachel. "You okay with that, tiny? I know you don't like eating dairy." Rachel turned to look at him, puzzlement written all over her face.

"No, I don't. However, since I don't see solo's any time soon in my future, just this once shouldn't hurt. What I don't understand is how you know." Puck shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. When he didn't say anything else Rachel turned around, with a look on her face that he couldn't decipher. He sat back in his seat with a small smile. A few minutes later they had got their ice cream and was sat at a booth in the back. Kurt looked at Rachel. "Okay, Rachel. Honesty time, this week, how bad has it been?" Rachel was swirling her ice cream around the bowl and it didn't look like she was going to answer, so Kurt looked at Puck and arched an eyebrow. Puck sighed and slumped down in his seat. "It was really bad. Santana and Quinn went on a major bitch offensive, and the rest of the glee club were just totally disinterested, and no-one would speak up in her defence. Not to mention Mr Schue was a complete ass hat in shouting at Rachel when she was just trying to make a point. Finn was the biggest fuckwit though. He couldn't seem to get through his thick skull that the reason it upset her so much was because it was Santana. The one chick in McKinley who has made it, like, her life goal to make Rachel's life a misery and also due to the fact that Finn totally cheated on her with both Santana and Brittany the first time they were together."

By the time he was finished talking, both Kurt and Rachel were gaping at him. He shrugged feeling his cheeks heat with a combination of embarrassment and anger. "Don't look so surprised. I may not say much, but I can see what's pretty damn obvious right in front of my face." When they didn't say anything he went to slide out of the booth, and Rachel caught his hand. "You weren't entirely right Noah." He sat back and looked at her in confusion and she flushed and dropped his hand. "I did have someone speak up in my defence. You." Puck shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. "I just told the truth. I do like you, and not only are you smoking hot, you are talented. Sure you can be controlling and a total pain in the ass with more ambition packed into that tiny body than your average small town combined," He paused and looked at Rachel, then looked back down at the table. He knew he was risking total pussy status but this needed to be said. He was sick and tired of everybody treating her ambition and drive like its a bad thing, because as far as he could see, it was a good thing. "And true, in the past I might have made fun of you about it, but recently I've noticed you have a point. Lima sucks. You're ambitious because you want to get the hell out of here. Believe me, you're not the only one who wants to get the hell out of this crappy town. The difference between you and me?" He looked up, meeting her eyes, completely ignoring the fascinated audience they had in Kurt. "You have a damn good chance that it's gonna happen, me? Not so much."

Rachel sat back in her seat and huffed in frustration. "Do you know what really annoys me about you Noah Puckerman?" Puck looked at Kurt, who looked as confused as he felt. "I pay you compliments?" He asked with a small smile and she smiled back then huffed. "Your complete lack of faith in your own abilities. If it isn't directly related to women, or football, you just seem to lose your habitual cockiness." Puck shrugged.  
"Nah, mostly I'm just realistic. I know I'm a stud or whatever, and I'm a not bad football player, but I'm not good enough to make it to the big leagues. And my grades aren't bad, but even if I did want to go to college, with me and Sarah, there is no way my ma could afford it." he shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, while being completely aware of the fact he was fooling no-one. Rachel looked at him. "Noah, you have so many options you can choose from. Tomorrow after school meet me in the library and i'll go over some of the options for you. If I'm getting out here, I'm not going to be the only one."

An uncomfortable silence hung over the table and in an obvious manoeuvre to try and break it, Kurt looked at Rachel. "Now, miss diva, it's time for explanations. I heard what you told Mr Schuester. Have you seriously been thinking about transferring to another school." Rachel flushed and looked at the table, as Puck choked on his ice cream. "The hell?" He said looking accusingly at Rachel. "You never mentioned any of this when we were talking at your house the other day." Rachel went red. "We really didn't do that much talking though did we Noah?" As he met her eyes he felt everything go tense at the heated look in her eye. "No, I guess we didn't. We were too busy making out. That was fun times." He looked at her and smirked not trying to hide the heat in his gaze. "Leaving damn near killed me, but I was serious. I do like you, like a lot, but I'm not doing that to Finn again, even if he is being a complete douchebag right now. We've just gotten our friendship back on track and I'm not throwing that away. I can't. I legit nearly died though. That shit was difficult." He'd been so busy looking at Rachel he hadn't noticed the mischievous smile on Kurt's face. "I think saying that shit was hard might be a tad more apropos, no?" As both Rachel and Puck gaped at him, Kurt threw his head back and laughed. "So, I take it you told Finn what happened then?" Rachel nodded and her eyes filled with tears.

"He was so angry when I told him what had happened between Noah and myself." Just as Puck was about to say something, he saw Kurt lean forward and tilt Rachel's chin and look at her. "And you didn't point out how completely hypocritical him getting mad at you kissing Puck was, because?" Rachel looked at him in confusion, and muttering something about blind fools and something else Puck didn't catch, Kurt started talking again. "When it comes to kissing someone when in a relationship Finn has no grounds for complaint. Did he not kiss you more than once when he was dating Finn?" Rachel nodded, and her skin flushed with a hint of temper that quickly died and she sighed looking back down at the table. "Believe me, I was going to, but I just don't have the strength right now to deal with him. And to answer your earlier question, yes, I have been very seriously considering leaving McKinley High School to attend another school. I just don't know how much more abuse I can take. I mean, I try to put on a brave front, but its been two years and instead of getting better its getting worse." As she was talking, tears started trickling down her face, and Puck felt something in his chest clutch. It wasn't right seeing Rachel Berry cry. She was a live wire, not this sad person sat in front of him. He growled. "That does it, I'm going to kick everyone's ass." When he went to stand up, Kurt stopped him, holding up a hand. "While I realise that violence has its place, I think right now we need to plan more strategically."

Puck narrowed his eyes at Kurt, recognising from the look on his face, that he had some sort of plan forming. He sat forward with a smile. He might not be big on words, but when it came to thinking shit up, he was a master. However, he had a bone to pick with Kurt first. "Before we get down to any planning, Kurt, I need to talk to you." He narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. "Why all of a sudden are you being so nice to Berry? I mean a couple of weeks ago you were all up in arms when she tried to take over Glee club when Schue was ill." Rachel looked out of the window, ostensibly ignoring the conversation, but Puck knew they had her complete attention. Kurt sighed. "It was when Karofsky got worse in his bullying it made me realise that I was doing the same thing to Rachel, just with words rather than physically. So I tried to think of ways to broach the subject, but well, everything happened and I left, so after we spoke at sectionals, I decided I owed it to both of us to try again. Okay, Uncle Puck?" He said with a smile, and Puck smiled then scowled. "Hey now, don't be comparing me to John Candy. I mean the dude was the shit and hella funny, but I do not look like him. Have you seen my guns?" When he heard both Rachel and Kurt laugh he sat back with a grunt. "Whatever, you guys suck. So tell me, oh wise one, what's this plan?" As he listened to the plan Kurt was laying out, Puck started to grin. This plan was the shit. He leant forward and put across a few of his ideas and then sat back with a happy feeling. Glee club had no idea what was about to hit them, and as far as Puck was concerned, this shit couldn't happen soon enough. He still had a few things to settle himself, over the way he was treated when baby-gate exploded.

He looked at Rachel, as something suddenly occurred to him. "This plan is awesome, but I need to know, are you still down with this?" Rachel looked at the table and bit her lip and Puck felt a sinking sensation in his chest, he knew this was too much for her. His thoughts were broken when Rachel looked up with a smile on her face that he'd never seen before. It was, well for lack of a better word, evil. She leant forward. "You guys are genius and I for one can't wait to carry out our plan." Pucks smile faded as a thought occurred to him. "Rachel, I don't want to be a downer, especially as some of this plan was my idea, but you do realise you run the risk of ruining things with Finn for good?" Rachel nodded, looking both sad and determined. "To be honest, Finn and I haven't been working and I think we work better when we're apart. I mean I love Finn, and part of me always will, but he has never once supported any decision I made since this school year started, and I think a clean break would be best for both of us." Puck nodded, sighed and then looked at Kurt, who raised his eyebrows. "I had nothing to do with this, I was never here. I mean, I don't even go to McKinley any more, so why would I have anything to do with planning something, especially with you two. I mean everyone knows we don't get along." Kurt laughed and the other two joined in. Kurt sobered and looked at Rachel. "Okay, first things first we need to do is go to the mall. You need a new look." Puck groaned.

"Okay I'm all for change and those assholes need every square inch of their ass kicked. But this is where I draw the line. Puckzilla doesn't do shopping. Just drop me off at school and I'll get my truck and head home. I need to get home to look after my sister anyway since my ma has night shift this week." Puck sat there as Kurt and Rachel looked at each other and then nodded. He stood up and with that they headed out to Kurts car.


	3. Chap 3  First Day of a brand new life

**Title:** A New Direction

**Pairing/Characters:** Puck/Rachel with Rachel/Kurt (friendship), Rachel/Finn and Kurt/Blaine (in later chapters)

Rating/Warnings: Probably T for language, may go up in future chapters.

**Summary:** Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck. Definitely AU after Special Education

**Spoilers:** Anything up to Special Education can be considered fair game.

**Word Count:** 3577

**Disclaimer:** Glee does not belong to me.

**Authors Note:** To everyone who's alerted this story or left me reviews, you guys rock my socks! I love you all! And it gives me so much motivation to keep going. Also, I am so sorry it has taken me so long to update, but writers block and the fact I've had the flu for the past fortnight have made writing difficult. Here it is, hope it was worth the wait!

Chapter 3 - First day of a brand new life.

By the time they had been at the mall for a few hours Rachel was doubting her sanity. She had tried on more clothes in the past hour than she had in the past six months combined. She had spent half of her savings already, and Kurt showed no sign of slowing up. He was almost giddy at, in his words, "The chance to finally get away from plaid skirts, hideous sweaters and ridiculous dresses." Rachel would have been insulted if she had the energy. She groaned as Kurt handed her another handful of garments.

"Kurt." She whined. "I'm sick of this already. Can we please just go now?" Kurt stuck his head over the door and looked at Rachel, with one of his eyebrows cocked in what she assumed was a questioning manner. She knew she looked tired having the strain of the past few days finally catch up with her. "I just want to go home." she said as her eyes filled with tears. She'd tried to be strong, but she was hurt and tired and more than anything wanted to go home and see her dads, and just unwind. Kurt walked through and into the stall and knelt down in front of Rachel and looked her in the eye.

"Sweetie are you sure you want to go through with this? I mean mini makeover aside, everything is completely reversible." Rachel tilted her head back and and really and truly thought about it for a minute.

"Kurt, of course I'm sure I want to do this, its just its been a long day and I'm tired. Want to come to my house and help me choose a suitable outfit for tomorrow?" As Rachel looked at Kurt, she could see him doing a mental inventory of what they'd purchased.

"I just have one more stop to make before we leave. You need to just be patient for a few minutes longer okay?" Rachel nodded and stood up.

Even two weeks ago the thought of trusting Kurt enough to let him give her a makeover would have been unimaginable given the disaster last year. Today had given her more perspective for what Kurt's life was like, before he left. They had had some honest and frank discussions over the past few hours, and it left Rachel feeling hopeful for their friendship, and when she thought about what was going to happen tomorrow she felt a jolt of excitement in her stomach.

The next morning Puck was walking across the parking lot toward the school when he heard his name being called. "Noah." Rachel called, the hint of exasperation in her voice letting him know it wasn't the first time she'd shouted on him. He turned to face her and felt his eyebrows shoot up and his jaw drop.

Rachel stopped in front of him and smiled at him. "Do you like my outfit? I wasn't sure but when Kurt picked it out last night, he was insistent. I'm not so sure however, its very different from anything I've worn before."

Puck looked down at Rachel and felt every muscle in his body tense. She looked fucking amazing. She had on black boot cut jeans, paired with black pumps with a definite heel and a long white tank top with a black vest that ended just under her bust. She'd left her hair down and it was all rumpled and curling, making it look like someone had their hands in it, and for a change, she was wearing make up. She looked amazing and similar to how she looked for the mash-up only without the leather. The tight jeans emphasised the length of her legs and the way the vest clung emphasised her already amazing chest. Puck shifted feeling his jeans tighten uncomfortably as all his blood headed south of his belt. He had always been attracted to Rachel with her short ass skirts and stupid animal prints, but dressed like this, she was smoking.

"Kurt needs to dress you everyday, you look hot and Hudson is gonna lose his shit." He mentally kicked himself when Rachel flinched at the mention of her ex-boyfriend.

"Finn's reaction to my outfit is no longer my concern Noah. He can do what he wants, when he wants. I don't care." She raised her chin and although Puck recognised a bluff when he heard it, even he wasn't enough of a dick to call her on it. It was the first day of the plan, and Puck knew her confidence had to be low. He stepped closer to her and lowered his voice.

"You sure you still want to go through with this? I mean for sure those dicks need taken down a peg or two, but I don't want you to have second thoughts."

Rachel shook her head, then turned and walked off over the parking lot. She looked over her shoulder, "Are you intending on coming in the building today Noah, or are you going to stand in the parking lot all day?" Puck grinned and followed slowly. He wouldn't miss McKinley's reaction to the new and improved Rachel Berry.

As Rachel walked into the school building, everything went silent, then after a few seconds that felt like minutes, talking started again. Rachel walked down the corridor, her head held high and acting like she couldn't hear the talking. She faltered when she saw Jacob Ben Israel lurking by her locker. She slowed down and Noah walked up behind her and gently bumped her shoulder with his arm.

"New day, new attitude. Start with jewfro." He said as he walked past. She straightened her spine and walked up to her locker aware that from the corner of her eye Jacob was walking up to her. "Hello, my love. Since you have now finished with that oaf, Finn Hudson, we can be together, just how we were meant to be."

He leant in closer, looking like he was about to kiss her and Rachel made a split second decision as to how to handle the situation. Last week she would have screamed, but she decided on a different tactic. She stepped in closer and he grabbed her, which she had been counting on.

"Jacob Ben Israel, you unhand me this instant you uncouth baboon." She said loudly and a few heads turned toward them. When he ignored her and pulled her in closer, puckering his lips, Rachel felt a joint surge of revulsion and anger. With a hidden grin, she stepped up into his personal space and kneed him as hard as she could in the groin. Jacob collapsed with a muted scream and curled up into the foetal position.

As he fell, Rachel stepped back and calmly walked over to her locker, putting away her things and pulling out her books for her first class. She looked over the corridor where Noah was stood at his locker, and he was smirking and when he caught her looking at him he winked. She walked past and held her hand up for a high five and he laughed and obliged her. She smiled up at him and he slammed his locker shut and they walked to the morning meeting for Glee, completely oblivious to the stares and comments.

As she walked into the choir room, Rachel held her head up high, not giving into the nerves that were fluttering in her stomach. She walked over to the far side of the room and sat down, a few seconds later Noah dropped into the chair beside her. The only other people in the room were Santana, Brittany and Quinn all sat on the far side of the room talking about the latest diet Sue had them all on. Rachel sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, then stiffened Finn walked in, shortly followed by the rest of the glee club. Rachel let out a breath n relief when Finn walked across the room and without looking at Rachel sat down beside the cheerios.

A minute later Mr Schuester walked in, and stopped in the centre of the room, running a hand over his hair. "Good morning guys. Before I get to our assignment for the week, I need to talk to you. The first thing I wanted to do was to use this time to apologise to Rachel for the way I spoke to her last week,. I had no right to single her out, when you were all behaving badly. In fact, that's what I wanted to talk about. I have noticed the way you guys treat each other, and it stops, now, no more discussion." He looked at Rachel. "I offered you a solo the other day and you turned it down, so do you want it now?"

Rachel stood up and walked into the middle of the room. "I would love the opportunity to sing, but first I have a few things to say." At that there were a few groans and Mercedes very obviously sighed and rolled her eyes.

She took a deep breath and looked at the rest of the group. "I just have one question. Is what Santana said true? Do you all only pretend to like me?" There was an awkward silence and Rachel smiled bitterly. "Yeah, that was pretty much what the reaction I thought I'd get."

Santana stood up, her habitual sneer in place. "Seriously, you had to _ask_ to know whether people don't like you, how deluded are you? You self-important little prude. No-one here likes you, I mean sure, you can sing, but apart from that, you're nothing to me, or anyone else, it seems."

Out of the corner of his eye, Puck saw Mr Schue go to step forward and he quietly coughed and as Mr Schue looked over Puck shook his head very firmly. Mr Schue sighed but reluctantly stepped back.

Rachel was stood with Santana glaring at her across the choir room, and she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face, for once she was going to have her say without worrying about what anyone thought, it was a liberating thought. "I'm nothing to you? Good. I wouldn't _want_ to be anything to you. Due to the fact that the only way you know to deal with people is to spread your legs for them. I might be a prude but at least I'm not a whore." Everyone gasped in shock and Santana's jaw dropped before her face went white. In the sudden silence everything sounded really loud and out of the corner of her eye she saw Puck's jaw drop and then he coughed to muffle sudden laughter. With a surge, Santana stood up but Rachel refused to back down in the face of the other girls anger. "You say I'm nothing and you're so popular." Santana smirked and Rachel just rolled her eyes. "I just have one question. If you weren't a cheerio, or slept with anyone who asked, would anyone really like you? I mean lets be honest, you're not exactly the girlfriend type, more the screwing in a cheap motel type." Santana moved across the room and stood in front of Rachel clenching and unclenching her fists, and when nobody moved to intervene, Puck stood up, and moved in between the two girls, nudging Rachel gently back out of the way. He scowled at the other girl.

"No way Lopez. I know what you can do, and she's smaller than you and unused to fighting. Use your words for once, señorita loca." Santana stood there and opened her mouth but when nothing was forthcoming, she moved and went and sat back down and although the other girl hadn't spoken, Rachel knew that the subject wasn't finished. She looked around the room but no-one else was saying anything, then Mercedes spoke up.

"Whoa there Miss Diva, don't you think that was a tad harsh? I mean did Santana really deserve that?" Rachel felt her jaw drop.

"Harsh? I'm sorry did you hear what she said to me first? So what, name calling is okay, as long as its aimed in my direction?" There was another awkward silence and then Rachel let out a short scream, her temper completely fraying.

"I am so sick of this crap!" She half-shouted and she saw people jump. "I have never once done anything deliberately malicious to any of you. I realise my passion for singing might have caused me to act irrationally and I have been childish before, but recently what have I done that is so bad? All I ever wanted for this team to win. Not me, this _team._ I've endured the looks, the comments, the pictures drawn about me, the slushies that I seem to be the only one still getting," She looked over to see Quinn smirk and nodded. "I am so sick of trying to get you to like me. So guess what? I'm not going to any more. You don't like me? Great, more power to you. I shouldn't have to take this, and more importantly I won't. You don't like me? Don't want me around? Fine. I'm not going to quit and leave you in the lurch, but I refuse to remain somewhere I am so clearly not wanted, so I'll see you all at rehearsals this afternoon."

She turned to face Mr Schuester who was gaping at her. "I've thought about what I said the other night Mr Schuester, and I'm not going to continue to look for alternate schools to attend, I'm staying at McKinley, but I need you to have a good look at this Glee club and think about what's happening here, because if things don't get better, after regionals, I'm quitting Glee." She turned around and grabbed her bag, then paused as a sudden thought hit her.

"Oh, and Mercedes?" Mercedes looked up at her. "Kurt said to tell you he's ashamed of you, that he expected diva's to stick together."

Mercedes scoffed. "Please, like my man Kurt would bother himself with you." Rachel just smiled and raised an eyebrow.

"Have you seen my outfit? Who do you think helped me buy it and picked it out for me? He's become a good friend, and I'll be seeing him after school today, when was the last time you spoke to him?" With that parting shot, she turned around, picked up her bag and went to walk out.

"Hey Rachel, wait up." Puck called after her, and she paused in the doorway, with her back to the room. He turned to face the shocked crowd. "She's to classy to say it, so I will. Fuck the lot of you. She didn't do anything to deserve the shit you put her through. So, I'm out of here too. Later bitches." With that he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to the door, nudging Rachel to get her to move.

They walked down the corridor, and Puck went to talk to Rachel when she looked up at him and her eyes were swimming with tears. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the nearest empty classroom. He sat on the desk and pulled Rachel in to stand in between his knees. He cupped her chin with his hands and raised it slowly, shocked again by how tiny she really was. As tear filled brown eyes met hazel, Puck sighed, then pulled her close into a hug, softly stroking her hair and her back, like he would do for Sarah, his little sister. He pulled back, and realised that with the heels and him sat down they were eye to eye. He looked her in the eye and sighed, frowning slightly, one hand still under her chin to keep her looking at him. "I'm sorry," He said quietly "That must have really fucking sucked to hear. What a bunch of assholes."

Rachel sniffled quietly and then let out a small sob. "I never realised it was that bad. I mean, not one of them ever really liked me." And with a few tears overflowed and Puck gently wiped at them with his thumb.

"Ssh, Rachel. Don't cry. I like you, I said so at sectionals, and I meant it. Remember that. Another thing to remember? Not one of those fuckers are worth even one of your tears. Not to mention you promised Kurt you wouldn't get upset."

Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath knowing that Puck was right. She had made a promise with Kurt that if she was going to cry, she would wait until she was at home. At school she was allowed to show no signs of weakness. With that reminder, Rachel smiled, and wiped her face. "Noah, I believe you're right. I can't cry that would completely ruin my make-up and then Kurt really would kill me. Thank you." She looked up at him and then impulsively leant forward and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. She stepped back and looked at Puck, who had completely frozen. She went to speak but before she could, he was pulling her closer and before she knew what was happening they were kissing.

Rachel shivered as Puck pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She heard some distant part of her brain trying to tell her something but she couldn't focus. Then the silence was broken by the sound of a door slamming. The pair jolted apart at a shout.

"I _knew_ it." Rachel felt her heart sink as she turned to face an irate Finn. He took a step forward. "I knew you were cheating on me with him." Finn said with a hard look at Puck. Rachel stepped forward deliberately into Finn's line of sight, drawing his gaze.

"I am not cheating on you." Finn's brow creased and he pointed from Puck to Rachel and back, with a dark scowl on his face.

"I just walked in here to find you two kissing, what the hell would you call it?" Rachel looked at Finn and shook her head, sorrow filling her chest. She had known this confrontation was coming, but hadn't wanted to involve Noah, not wanting to damage the boys fledgling relationship. Now, if she didn't say something quickly that outcome looked almost guaranteed.

"Yes, Noah and I were kissing, I still fail to see where that is considered cheating." Rachel said quietly.

"You're my girlfriend and I caught you kissing another dude, that's like the definition of cheating." Finn spoke slowly as though talking to a five year old and Rachel felt her temper flare.

"I am not your girlfriend. You broke up with me, remember?" Finn looked dumbfounded, and Rachel let out a laugh that she knew, even to herself sounded bitter. "What? I'm sorry, but did you expect me to come running after you and ask for your forgiveness and play the simpering girlfriend? Why should I?" Rachel said angrily putting her hands on her hips. "In all the time we've been together since we got back to school neither of us have been happy. Frankly, you haven't been a good boyfriend to me, you side with the people who call me names, tell me I'm selfish and a million other things, that somehow makes you so much better than me. I'm sick of feeling never good enough Finn. I get it enough from the rest of the glee club, I don't need it from my so-called boyfriend as well. I'm telling you right here and now, I've had enough of this and I'm saying, we're done." With that she turned around and winked at a gaping Noah, and picked up her bag and walked out the door heading to her next class.

Puck stood there, feeling pole-axed as Finn stood there a few seconds, then stormed out in the opposite direction from where Rachel had gone. Okay, this new Rachel Berry who spoke her mind? Was insanely hot, and Puck suddenly had the urge to actually go to his maths class today, well you know, studying was important. He thought with a grin, plus it didn't hurt that a certain talkative midget was in his class. Yep, this was going to be an interesting week.


	4. Chapter 4  Need You Now

**Title:** A New Direction

**Pairing/Characters:** Puck/Rachel with Rachel/Kurt (friendship) and Kurt/Blaine

**Rating/Warnings**: Probably T for language, may go up in future chapters.

**Summary:** Post Special Education, Rachel has a few difficult decisions to make, and finds allies in both Kurt and Puck. Definitely AU after Special Education

**Spoilers:** Consider anything up to Original Song fair game.

**Word Count:** 6139

**Disclaimer:** Glee does not belong to me.

**Authors Note:** Okay, this is me humbly apologising for leaving it over three freaking months before updating. In my defence, every time I tried to write this chapter, everyone ignored me and my muse stuck her fingers in her ears and sang at the top of her lungs to drown me out.

To everyone who's alerted this story or left me reviews, you guys rock my socks! I love you all! And it gives me so much motivation to keep going.

I'm going to give a special mention here to **TawnyC** who left me a message that gave me the confidence to get back to this story and keep going, so this chapter is for you!

Also, a fair warning, this is set post the Christmas episode and from then on, I am throwing everything out the window and rewriting it so it fits in with my head-canon. I loved the episodes themselves, and think they are the best they've done in a while, but not everything will fit in with my storyline, so I changed some things and brought some key moments forward, and put moments in there I think were sadly lacking cough*puckleberry*cough.

**Chapter Four – Need You Now**.

Rachel took a deep breath as she walked through the doors of McKinley. As she stepped inside the building she sighed in relief to get out of the cold. In deference to the weather she was wearing a pair of black jeans, chunky boots and a long teal blue scoop necked sweater. Although coming back to school was usually a time for her to feel extra nervous and worry about what people would say about her. However, right now, her personal confidence was high, and she felt fantastic.

This new confidence was due to spending a lot of time with Kurt and Blaine over the holidays, either going to the movies or the mall. Both boys were the perfect balm for all the taunting she received at school and on her Facebook pages. They were happy and content with who they were and she couldn't help but want to emulate that. It was also increasing obvious, at least to her, that the pair had very strong feelings for each other, but each were oblivious to how the other was feeling. Each insisted they were just friends, there was nothing more to it. It was both lovely and frustrating to observe.

Another good thing that had come out of the whole Sectionals blow-out and the aftermath was that at McKinley, she had someone who was totally unflinchingly in her corner. If someone had told her a year and a half ago that the person she'd be closest to at McKinley High would be Noah, she would have laughed at them. However illogical or random it might seem, over the past few weeks Noah had become a good friend. That didn't mean he didn't annoy her or tease her or call himself and her ridiculous nicknames, it just meant that it was done in fun and with a smile, rather than a sneer.

Christmas had been and gone, and now things were going back to normal. Things with the Glee Club had thawed out slightly, and Rachel had some time to reflect on things. The Plan that Kurt, Noah and herself had come up with was still a go, and things still needed to change, but she was going to try to be less confrontational about it. Try out a less arguing, more talking approach and see how that worked.

She walked down the corridor to her locker, and just as she was opening her locker she got jolted hard from behind and barely caught herself before she slammed face first into her locker. She straightened up, and turned around but could see no-one in the immediate vicinity and everyone seemed to be looking in the other direction. Shrugging it off, she dropped off her bag and pulled out her books for her first class.

Looking at her watch and seeing she had time before first period, she headed toward the choir room, hoping for a few minutes of peace where she could sit and relax. When she walked in, she was surprised to see Noah sat in the seats facing the piano, playing his guitar quietly. She stopped and just watched him. He seemed so peaceful, his head bent down over the guitar, eyes closed and mouth set in a small smile. She was so absorbed in watching him, she jumped when he spoke.

"Are you planning on coming in here, or you just going to stand there and stare at me all day." Flushing she walked forward and into the room, studiously ignoring Noah chuckling under his breath.

"How did you know I was standing there?" Rachel asked curiously as she sat down across from him. Puck shrugged.

"I could smell the shampoo you always wear, besides which, you were humming along with my playing." Rachel frowned and felt herself flush.

"I didn't even notice I was doing it." She looked at Noah and he just shrugged. She walked over and sat down beside him. "Listen, Noah, there's something I would like to discuss. I have a proposal for you." Rachel said, taking a deep breath. "I think we should do a duet. We need to show Mr Schuester that Finn isn't the only boy with vocal talent in Glee Club."

Puck looked at Rachel who was looking down at her lap, twisting her hands and clearly nervous. Annoyed, he huffed out a breath. "Why are you so nervous? Its not like I'm going to say no. I mean, a duet sounds good." Rachel's head snapped up and Puck smiled at the look of happiness on her face. " Of course, we will need plenty of time to practice, and if, while practising, we happen to make out a time or two, well I'm down for that too." As Rachel gaped at him, her face going red, Puck dropped his head back and let out the laughter he'd been holding in.

"Noah Puckerman," Rachel huffed, fighting to hold her smile back. "Is that all you ever think about?"

Puck leant forward and lowered his voice, not wanting to be overheard by any random tool on their way to home room. "No, course not. I think about how much I love dip, and what a pain in the ass my sister is and how its not fair I can't take part in my fight club any more, since that breaks the terms of my probation. I think about the fact that for a group who's supposed to be all happy, and singing about Glee and shit, I've never met an angrier, bitchier group in my life. As well as, y'know, hoping my mom doesn't find my porn stash, and wanting to punch Finn every second time I see him."

Rachel could feel her face going bright red and knew from the smirk on his face she was gaping at him. She checked her watch and stood up, pulling Puck after her. "We're going to be late for home room if we don't hurry. And Noah?" he looked down at her and smiled.

"Yeah Berry?" She looked at him and shook her head.

"You're a good friend, but from now on, I think I'd rather not know about your thought processes. Its terrifying." With a laugh she turned and walked off, leaving him staring after her with a smile on his face, before he hurried in the opposite direction.

Her good mood lasted for most of the day, but by the time her last period of the day came around, Rachel's good mood and optimism had all but evaporated and she was verging on doing something she'd never done before, just standing up and walking out of a class. Not for the first time, Rachel cursed the fate that had seen it fit to put her in the same English class as Finn, Quinn and Santana. They were sat talking and completely ignoring Rachel who was sat the row behind them. That hadn't been a personal choice, but necessity due to it being the only desk free when she got there.

It would have been fine except every now and then Santana would turn around, say something insulting to Rachel, and turn back while the other two laughed. She'd be lying if she said that Finn laughing at something hurtful Santana had said didn't sting slightly, but he'd done the same when they were together, so she wasn't altogether that surprised.

Rachel heard her name being called and looked up and right into Santana's smirking face. "I know your secret." Rachel raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else just looked back down at her work, ignoring the other girl. "I'm serious." Santana continued.

Rachel sighed and looked up. "I don't have any secrets. So I seriously doubt that."

The other girl scoffed. "You and Puck are totally getting it on. That's the only reason he'd be willing to spend so much time with a freak like you. Besides which, I have witnesses." Santana glanced to her left and making an obvious assumption Rachel took a deep breath and looked at Finn.

"You saw me kissing Noah, and automatically jumped from there to us sleeping together?" She didn't wait for him to answer and turned back to Santana, quickly checking the time, she had two minutes before the bell would ring, and she could get out of there and go home.

"Sorry, Finn must have his ex-girlfriends mixed up, I wasn't the one who slept with Noah while dating Finn. As for why we're spending time together that is none of your business."

Rachel looked to Finn and then back at Santana including them both in her next statement. "If you must know, Noah and I are friends, and friends only." She sighed when Finn scoffed. "Yes we kissed once, but that was it. And, for future reference, if you want to know why he's spending time with me, ask him directly, leave me out of it." With that the bell rang and grabbed her stuff and walked out, heading for her locker.

Rachel had started walking down the corridor to head to her locker, when she was grabbed by the shoulder and spun around to face an angry Quinn. "How dare you talk about me? I don't need freaks like you casting judgements and innuendo about me. You know _nothing_."

Rachel raised her chin, feeling her temper rising, she was so sick of being constantly harassed. "I wasn't casting innuendo or being judgemental. I was stating facts, Quinn. You slept with Noah when you and Finn were together. _That_ I know. You got pregnant. _That_ I know. My birth mother adopted your daughter, and they both now live in New York. _THAT_ I know." Rachel said quietly, as Quinn went white.

Most people had gone by this point, but Rachel still didn't want this conversation being overheard. She hadn't mentioned Shelby and Beth to be cruel, she had been trying to think of a way to bring it up with the other girl, but when Quinn had started pretending like the last year hadn't happened, she'd decided not to bother.

Already regretting bringing up the baby and without bothering to say anything else, she turned to walk away only for Quinn to grab her arm and spin her round and the hallway echoed with the slap and Rachel felt her head snap back under the impact. She shook her head and met Quinn's angry tear filled eyes.

"Okay, I deserved that. I shouldn't have brought up Shelby or Beth." Rachel took a step forward, so that her and Quinn were practically nose to nose. "I will apologise as that last comment was out of line. Now, having said that, I want you to understand something. That was your free shot. You ever lay a hand on me again and I will personally put you on your ass. I'm through being everyone's punching bag. Leave me alone, and I'll do likewise."

With that Rachel walked down the corridor in the opposite direction from everyone else. She had just rounded the corner when she jumped and screamed when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty classroom. Looking up she met Noah's eyes, he looked really angry. He put his hand under her chin, tilting her face toward the light.

"Man, Q really packs a punch huh?" He said with a scowl. "She is such a bitch, I mean I was at the opposite end of the corridor and even I heard that slap." He let go of her chin and went over to the sink and damped down a paper towel and brought it over and laid it gently on her cheek putting her hand over it to hold it place. Rachel looked at Noah, who was staring out the window, his back now to her.

"Noah?" She said tentatively. As he turned around, she took a deep breath. "How much of our altercation did you hear?" Puck shrugged.

"I didn't hear the argument, just the end result. What were you fighting about anyway?" Rachel took a deep breath, and bit her lip, feeling apprehensive.

"Santana was being a bitch and apparently Finn told her we were sleeping together, so I just said I thought Finn was mixing up his ex-girlfriends." She stopped when Noah flinched, and she touched his arm, with an apologetic smile and he shrugged.

"S'okay. Its the truth. Sucks that it happened, but I can't erase it." Rachel took a step back and sat on the edge of the nearest desk, absently rubbing her cheek, which was still stinging.

"Then Quinn insulted me and said I didn't know what I was talking about, so I mentioned a few things I knew for a fact were true, she took offence to what I was saying and voilà, one slap."

Puck looked at Rachel and saw the guilty look on her face and sighed. "First of all, don't feel guilty. If Quinn is being a bitch, you should definitely fight back. I'm going to guess that Shelby was mentioned and Quinn flipped her shit. Again." Rachel nodded, then frowned.

"What do you mean again?" Puck looked at her.

"Rach, Beth was born almost a year ago. You don't think I haven't tried to talk about her with Quinn before now? Every time I tried to bring it up, Quinn would start shouting and throwing stuff at me, so after the forth or fifth time, I just decided that it wasn't worth it and we haven't spoken since."

Rachel looked at Noah. "Can I ask you something? I know we're friends, but I don't want to upset or offend you or bring back painful memories." Noah just shrugged.

"Don't worry so much Rachel. If I don't want to answer, I won't. You won't offend me. If its about Beth, go ahead. You have as much right as me to talk about her." Rachel shook her head.

"Okay, I just wondered. Do you regret giving her up? And why Shelby?" At Rachel's question Puck sat down across from her, his head dropping forward shielding his face from her sight. He let out a sigh, and rubbed his neck and Rachel felt her stomach churn waiting for him to answer. As much as she wanted to know, she had been telling the truth when she'd said she didn't want to bring up painful memories.

"Do I regret giving Beth up? That's a complicated question. The logical part of me knows that Quinn and I aren't ready to be parents. That in doing what we did, we gave her the best start in life, and a chance at a real future." He looked up at Rachel and she felt her heart squeeze at the vulnerability on Noah's face as he spoke about his daughter. "I know people think I'm just a dumb jock, who lives to beat people up and get laid, and while that might have been true six months ago, I'm trying to change. Growing up I guess. Now, do I regret giving her up?"

Noah looked at Rachel, and sighed. "Every damn day. I didn't want to give her up at the time, but Q talked me into it. It kills me to know that my little girl is never going to know me as daddy. Hopefully someday she'll know me as Noah, but that's not the same."

Suddenly uncomfortable, he stood up and jammed his hands in his pockets. "As for Shelby, we met her at the nursery in the hospital, and her and Quinn got talking, and it ended with us in the social workers office, signing our parental rights away. I don't know when they left the hospital or where they went. I only got to hold Beth once, but it was for about fifteen minutes not long after she was born. I've got a picture of her, not that I needed it. I wouldn't and _couldn't_ forget her even if I tried. As for Shelby, I couldn't tell you what she was doing there."

Rachel gasped as realisation hit her, and she laughed and even to herself it sounded hollow.

"Shelby was at the hospital because I told her you were there. After our performance, I went to talk to her." She shrugged at Noah's surprised look. "She asked where everyone was so I told her what had happened, that you and Quinn had a healthy beautiful baby girl. Apparently that was all she needed to hear. No sooner had she finished telling me she couldn't be my mom, that she needed to start again, she went and found the exact thing she was looking for. Completely disregarding the fact I was here, ready and able to call her mom. Start again and never mind her biological daughter who only wanted, for once, someone to want her back."

Rachel stood up and distantly she realised she was crying. She felt sick and she was so angry she was shaking. This was the reason she didn't mention Shelby, ever. It brought up too many issues she hadn't dealt with, and to be honest, that she wasn't ready to deal with. She went to grab her bag, but Noah got there first, pulling her into his arms. She held herself stiff, still fighting to stop crying, and she felt more than heard him sigh.

"Rachel you need to relax, if you don't let some of this out, you're going to shatter. Trust me on this. I ended up in juvie because I couldn't handle my emotions. Just let go, its okay." As he spoke he gently rocked her back and forward and Rachel turned her face into his chest as her shoulders shook with the force of her crying.

Shifting her closer, Puck slowly ran his hand up and down her back, mentally kicking himself in the ass for not realising what talking about Shelby was going to do to her. She'd mentioned before that she didn't talk about what happened at the end of last year much, and he was guessing he was beginning to see why. After a couple of minutes, Rachel had calmed down and Puck let her go. "C'mon. Lets go the choir room, it should be empty, we can work on duet ideas."

* * *

Sitting in the choir room after school the next day, Rachel was in a world of her own. She had deliberately come into the choir room knowing that glee wasn't scheduled for another half hour so she could have some time to herself. She picked up the guitar that was laying there and without thinking started plucking out one of her favourite songs to play on guitar. If anyone had known she played guitar, they'd probably have said it would have been show tunes that she loved playing but it wasn't.

No-one knew she could play the guitar, as it wasn't something she advertised. She'd learnt it when she was a freshman, more out of boredom than anything else, and she loved it. But she would only play if no-one else was around. She began to sing, choosing to do just doing her favourite part of the song, knowing the likelihood of being interrupted was sky high.

_Please understand  
That its not that I don't care  
But right now these walls are closing in on me  
I love you more than I love life itself  
But I need to find a place were I can breathe  
I can breathe_

Rachel took a deep breath and concentrated on her breathing, never expecting singing this song to hit her so hard but right now it felt like this song was expressing how she really felt about her life in McKinley. She felt trapped here. Never truly able to be herself. At times when she was feeling down or lonely, she just wanted to go to somewhere where she could be free to be who she was without the constant drama that seemed to be her life right now.

Now more than ever she was determined to follow through with what she had told Mr Schuester earlier in the year. If it didn't start getting better, she was quitting Glee after regionals, which were in a couple of months. She knew she had a problem when the thought of quitting Glee didn't make her sad, just determined._  
_  
_I wanna go to a place where I can hold the intangible  
And let go of the pain with all my might  
I wanna go to a place where I'm suspended on ecstasy  
Somewhere between dark and light  
Where wrong becomes right  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful,  
I wanna go to beautiful, beautiful, beautiful  
Mmmmmmm... beautiful..._

Kurt Hummel stood in the corridor of his old high school, feeling a mixture of excitement and nerves. The fact he was only here for a brief visit didn't calm down the fear that he was going to bump into his own personal nemesis. Having Blaine here helped, though. He patted Blaine's arm. "Its just up here. Normally its quite.." He trailed off as he heard singing coming from the choir room.

He paused outside the room, out of eyesight of anyone in the room and looked at Blaine who was stood with his eyebrows raised. "Is that Rachel?" Blaine asked quietly and Kurt nodded. He'd stopped them from going in because there was an odd note in Rachel's voice and it made Kurt uneasy. As she continued singing about going somewhere else, that note made sense.

Suddenly Kurt felt a huge wave of guilt hit him at being one of the people who convinced Rachel not to transfer to another school. Maybe he should have just told her to go. One thing was for sure, she wasn't happy. He walked into the choir room just as the music ended and not wanting to scare her he lightly clapped. She jumped up and out of her seat and whirled around but when she saw the two boys standing there, a bright smile bloomed across her face and she hurried over and pulled them into a hug. As the hug lasted a few moments beyond what was normal, Kurt met Blaine's eyes and the other boy frowned, obviously concerned.

After a couple of minutes, Rachel let go and stepped back, sitting down. Kurt sat down on one side of her and Blaine on the other. "Rachel, sweetie, are you okay?" Kurt frowned when Rachel didn't say anything, just sat and looked at her feet. She let out a small laugh, and Kurt was shocked by how hollow it sounded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Everything is fine. Things are okay. Noah has been a really good friend this past couple of days, its helping." Kurt reached over and put his hand under Rachel's chin and pulled her chin up and toward him, making her meet his eyes.

"That's good for Puck, but what about the ten other members of the Glee Club?" Rachel shook her head.

"Cliff note version? Finn told Santana I was sleeping with Noah and she believed him. Quinn, Finn, Santana, Brittany and Mercedes are official members of the we hate Rachel club. Artie, Tina, Mike, Sam and Lauren are in the 'she's okay, but we're not getting involved' camp. The only person I have in my corner in McKinley is Noah. Oh, and yesterday I got into a verbal altercation with Quinn and she slapped me." Kurt was gaping at Rachel and internally he was seething with anger. He'd known things were bad, but he hadn't known it was that bad. He was brought out of his musings by Rachel talking to him.

"So what brings you to McKinley, even though school is out, there is still a chance Karofsky is around here somewhere." Kurt grimaced at the mention of the other boy.

"I need to talk to Coach Sylvester about something. Believe me, I'm aware of the fact he lurks around the school just waiting for opportunities to be creepy. Anyway, I'm also here because I wanted to check up on my favourite diva. You sounded so sad on the phone last night." Rachel shrugged.

"I'm fine Kurt. You know me, I have a thick skin. Nothing gets me down for long." Kurt sat forward and went to speak but Blaine, who up until now had been sat in silence, beat him to it.

"Rachel, I don't mean to be rude, but that is complete bullshit. You are miserable. I know it, Kurt knows it and Noah knows it. He was the one who called and asked us to stop in and see you." Rachel was red in the face, and Kurt was staring in fascination at the other boy, he'd never seen this side of Blaine. "I know you guys have a plan sketched out, but if in the meantime you are completely miserable, so I ask, what the fuck is the point?" There was clapping from the door, and Kurt looked at Rachel seeing her shake her head as Noah walked in.

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Anderson." He looked at Rachel. "I know you really want to teach that bunch of idiots a lesson, but being miserable all the time isn't good for anyone. So, if you want to quit Glee and get away from that miserable bunch of fuckers, I'm with you."

Kurt took his attention away from the petite brunette in front of him to focus on Puck. He narrowed his eyes, his inspection going completely unnoticed by the other boy, since all his attention was on Rachel. Puck squatted down in front of Rachel, meeting her eye and Kurt looked at Blaine and waggled his eyebrows and Blaine grinned. They had been talking about the two teenagers the day before, both certain that they were a lot closer than either were willing to acknowledge. Kurt looked at Puck.

"Why are you here so early, I thought you'd be in the gym, working on the gun show." Puck shrugged.

"I got bored in the gym, decided to come down to the choir room to bug Rach, who I knew would be here. Heard her singing then saw you come in and decided to lurk and eavesdrop and here we are." Puck said with a smirk. Rachel's head snapped up and she she shook her head and sighed.

Before she could say anything, the door swung open and the rest of the glee club started arriving. Kurt and Blaine stood up and walked over to Mr Schuesters office, letting them get settled. Kurt deliberately kept his back on the room, knowing his temper was uncertain as it was. Even though he couldn't see her, he could feel Mercedes staring at him. They hadn't spoken for a while, and while Kurt felt bad, he had other things to worry about right now.

Mr Schuester walked into the room and went to speak when he spotted Kurt. Kurt walked up to Mr Schuester and gave him a small smile. "Hey Mr Schuester, I didn't realise there was a meeting, I'll be out your way in a minute, as I'm sure you don't want me or Blaine in your way right now. If its okay with you, I'd like a quick word with the guys." When Mr Schue nodded, Kurt walked up in front of the group.

He took a deep breath. "You know, I know I'm not officially a member of New Directions any more, but I have always considered you friends. And you were so understanding and helpful when it came to light how badly I was being bullied and for that I thank you." He paused, while everyone nodded or smiled and then as he continued, his voice started getting louder almost against his will, driven by temper. "Which is why I am absolutely _appalled_ at the way you've all been treating Rachel. Its ridiculous. You are all old enough to understand what bullying can do to someone but as long as it's Rachel, its okay? You are alienating arguably the most talented performer you have, and I'm embarrassed and I'm ashamed of all of you."

Kurt paused and smiled at Puck, who was sat in the seat he had been in earlier, with his arm around Rachel, who had her face buried in his shoulder. "With a couple of exceptions. If it continues, I swear to god, I'm going to Rachel's dads and I'm going to try to get them to transfer her out of here. No-one should have to put up with this from their so-called friends. I want to ask you something. Do you remember what we said the start of the year? That we were a family, tighter than tight. Glee was the one place we were supposed to be safe from all the slushies, and the name calling that happened out there. Now, if Rachel is getting it from outside and from in here, let me ask you. Exactly where is she supposed to feel safe, and feel like she belongs?"

By the time he had finished his tirade, Rachel was in tears, Kurt's face was flushed with temper and none of the Glee Club were looking at him. Kurt looked over at Blaine and he just looked fascinated. As he stepped back Santana stood up.

"Don't you think you're being more than a little hypocritical here? I mean, for months you've been the main critic of Rachel, then you leave to go to Dalton and suddenly you're her best friend?" Kurt looked at Santana and shook his head.

"Actually, no. I'm not being even remotely hypocritical because not long after I left here, I found Rachel and I apologised and after I did that, she forgave me and I moved on and changed the way I treated her. I now consider her one of my best friends, and before any of you think about blaming this on her, she had no idea I was going to be here, or say any of this."

Kurt turned and walked over and stood in front of Rachel, pulling her up and out of her seat and out of Puck's arms. Kurt tilted her chin up and met her tear filled eyes. "I know you're probably mad at me for this, but Rachel, it had to be done. You're not happy, every day I see you, your less and less like yourself." Rachel shook her head.

"I'm not mad, I think your insane, and way too overprotective, but I'm not mad." With that Rachel sat back down and Kurt and Blaine exchanged glances. "Right, we'd better let you get on, Rachel we'll see you later, usual time and place?" Rachel looked up with a smile and nodded blowing both boys a kiss.

After the two boys had left an uncomfortable silence fell over the group and Mr Schuester walked in front of the group and stood there, a frown on his face. "Everything that Kurt said had merit. I want you all to think about that for a minute. All you guys have is each other, and this isn't going to work if you are constantly cutting each other down." He gave them all what Rachel always called his 'I'm so disappointed in you right now' soulful look, and then sighed.

"My assignment for this week is to find a song that you think expresses how you feel right now. You can work by yourself, or in pairs or groups, its up to you." He stepped back and as everyone started talking amongst themselves, Rachel met Pucks eyes. He raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Hmm, lucky us. A chance for a duet. What kind of songs did you have in mind?" Rachel frowned.

"I'm not sure yet. I definitely want to do something different that what everyone is expecting. Maybe a Lady Antebellum song, or a Pink song, I don't know." She looked over at Noah with a smile. "Do you have any preferences for what you would like to sing?" Noah shrugged.

"I'm not that bothered to be honest. No show tunes and we'll be fine." Rachel smiled and as she pulled out her iPod and gave Noah one side of her headphones. She looked up at met his eyes and as he smiled, she felt her heart skip a beat. There was no doubt that they had a definite chemistry, but getting involved intimately with Noah would be a bad idea. He had become a good friend to her in the past few weeks, and she wasn't willing to risk losing him as a friend. It might sound childish, but if everything went bad, then she would be completely alone, and she'd been there, done that and wasn't willing to go back, no matter how tempting it would be to give into whatever this _thing_ was between herself and Noah.

She looked up when she heard her name being mentioned and Santana stood up, facing Sam. "And what is that supposed to mean?" She snapped facing the other boy.

"Its simple." Sam said, staying calm in the face of Santana's temper. "I said, leave Rachel alone. I'm so sick of hearing you run her down and criticise her, especially when she isn't hear to defend herself. Stop being such a bitch, its really unattractive." Santana looked the boy up and down, then sat down without looking at the other boy again, turning her back on him. Sam made a face at her back and then walked over to where Puck and Rachel were sat. "Rachel, I'm sorry I haven't said anything before. I'm so sick of just sitting there when people run you down for no reason. For the record, I think you're a cool person, and I just wanted you to know that." Rachel flushed and smiled, gesturing for Sam to sit down beside her and Noah.

"Thank you, but you know you didn't have to do that. I mean, I appreciate it, believe me, but I don't want to make things awkward for you." Sam looked at her and shook his head, with a smile.

"Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself. We cool?" Rachel nodded and Puck bumped fists with Sam, and with a smile he went back to his seat. Rachel sat back in her seat with a smile. Turns out maybe she had more friends than Noah after all.

**Authors Note**: I was going to keep going but I just realised, this chapter is about six thousand words, which is double my usual length, so think of it as a bonus and an apology for keeping you waiting so damn long!


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